Japan targets 20m tourist arrivals by 2020

The number on inbound tourists to Japan crossed the 10 million mark for the first time two years ago and in 2014 that figure climbed to 13.4 million.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

Tokyo

THE habit of "picking winners" through state-nurturing of selected industries went out of fashion several decades ago in Japan, but now Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has decided to revive it by declaring inbound tourism to be in effect a strategic industry.